Archives Of Colon-cancer-blog From Medicineworld.Org

Feb 10, 2006

Cancer Death Rate Finally Falls

For the first time in 70 years the cancer death rate has actually declined in the United States. This may be an indication that we are winning the war on cancer and this point in time may very well represent a dramatic turning point in the history of cancer.

As per results are from a recently completed review of U.S. death certificates by the National Center for Health Statistics, the number of cancer deaths decline to 556,902 in 2003, down from 557,271 the year before. This is the first time in the last 70 years the cancer death rate is showing a declining trend.

The medical community is welcoming this declining trend in the cancer death rate, and attributed it to the development of newer strategies and treatments for cancer.

The war on cancer has not always gone well in the public's eyes. Despite decades of scientific research, marked progress in the screening techniques and treatment modalities cancer therapy remained harsh and total deaths continued to rise till now.

For more than a decade, health statisticians have charted annual drops of about 1 percent in the cancer death rate, the calculated number of deaths per 100,000 people. But the actual number of cancer deaths still rose each year because the growth in total population outpaced the falling death rates.

Experts are attributing the success to declines in smoking, and the earlier detection and more effective treatment of tumors. Death rates have fallen for lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancer, according to American Cancer Society officials, who analyzed the federal death data.

Coffee May Not Reduce Cancer Risk

Now researchers say that more evidence of no link between coffee and colorectal cancer.
According to Swedish study drinking as much as six cups of coffee per day has no effect on the risk of colon or rectal cancer.

Researchers say that case-control studies, mainly based in Europe, have linked more coffee to less colorectal cancer, with a meta-analysis of 12 such studies reporting high coffee consumption could reduce the risk by 28 per cent. This result has not been backed up by prospective cohort studies.

This new study, which is published on-line in the American Journal of Epidemiology, used data from two population-based cohort studies: the Swedish Mammography Cohort (61,433 women) and the Cohort of Swedish Men (45,036 men).

From 1987-1990 and followed through 2004, 1,279 cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed. The volunteers drank an average of three cups of coffee per day, half a cup less than the US average.

Although the researchers recorded that the people who drank the most coffee were also more likely to be smokers and to use multivitamin supplements much less, there was no link between coffee drinking and the cancer.

No comment could be given on different types of coffee however, but claims that decaffeinated coffee is very uncommon in Sweden led the scientists to limit their claims to filtered coffee.

Eating Less Fat May Not Protect You From Cancer And Heart Disease

Eating less fat is not final solution cancer and heart disease as per findings from a recently published research. This new study has found that eating less fat later in life may not lower the risk of cancer and heart disease among older women. This is a disappointment for those who expected to have a greater benefit from a healthy diet.

These results come from a large study, sponsored by the government. A total of 48,835 women participated in this study. Researchers say that this is not the final decision regarding benefits of low fat diet.

Researchers argue that these women may have started this low-fat diet too late in their life to derive any benefit. Average age of patients participated in the study was 62 years. The researchers also point out that these women did not reduce the intake of fat as much as the diet demanded. Most of these women remained overweight during the course of the study, a major risk factor for cancer and heart problems.

This study, which has lasted eight years, showed no difference in the rate of breast cancer, colon cancer and heart disease among those who ate lower-fat diets and those who didn't.

Heart and cancer specialists said that thy were not very much surprised by the study results since scientific thinking on the role fats play in disease prevention has evolved since this study was designed. That is especially true when it comes to good and bad fats and heart disease.

Magnesium May Protect Against Colon Cancer

Previous studies have shown that higher intake of minerals may decrease the risk of colon. Findings from new research now suggest that a diet rich in magnesium may actually decrease the risk of colon cancer supporting the previous findings.

This new research comes from School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. Researchers Aaron Folsom and colleagues have found that diets rich in magnesium reduced the risk of colon cancer. Surprisingly, rectal cancer, which is often grouped with colon caner, did not derive any benefit from magnesium containing diet.

Researchers draw our attention to a previous study from Sweden which has showed that women with the highest magnesium intake had a 40 per cent lower risk of developing colon cancer compared to those with the lowest intake of the mineral.

These researchers say that these findings are of utmost importance since many dietary surveys had shown that a large portion of adults do not meet the RDA for the minerals, which is commonly found naturally in green, leafy vegetables, meats, starches, grains and nuts, and milk.

These findings are published in the latest issue of American Journal of Epidemiology. Researchers conclude that foods high in magnesium, such as vegetables, grains, and fruit, are useful for reducing the risk of colorectal cancer.

Cancer Care Varies From Place To Place

American health system provides good care for the cancer patients, however the type of care varies from place to place as per a new study. In a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the researchers say that, breast and colorectal cancer patients were given nearly all of the therapies recommended by experts.

This study, which was sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, examined the care of nearly 1,800 patients in Atlanta, Cleveland, Houston, Kansas City, Kan., and Los Angeles.

This study examined a broad range of therapies in two of the most common malignancies: 36 for breast cancer and 25 for colorectal cancer. Researchers found that doctors followed some guidelines more closely than others. Researchers have found that, among newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, 99% had their lymph nodes tested. But only 6% of patients who had higher risk of breast caner recurrence actually saw a radiation oncologist.

Researchers also noted wide variations from one hospital to another. For patients who have surgery for rectal cancer, experts say doctors should record whether tumor cells have spread to the lymph vessels or blood vessels. Within a single city, however, the percentage of patients whose doctors took this step was 13% to 99%, according to the study. The report's authors did not identify the city.

How Red Meat Increases Colon Cancer Risk

Researchers claim that they have found the link between red meat and cancer. It was well known to the scientific community that eating lots of red meat increases the risk of many types of cancers including colorectal cancers.

This new research finding highlighting the connection between eating red meat was done by researchers from Dunn Human Nutrition Unit and is published in the journal Cancer Research.

Previous research results published by Dunn team showed that the chance of developing the disease was a third higher for people who regularly ate more than two portions per day of red meat compared with those who ate less than one portion per week. In this recent study Dunn team examined cells from the lining of the colon taken from healthy volunteers eating different diets.

Researchers have found higher levels of DNA damage in the cells taken from people eating red meat. The reason for this damage could be the presence of substances called N-nitrosocompounds, which form in the large bowel after eating red meat.

These compounds could alter the structure of DNA, which in turn may become susceptible to harmful mutations that increase the likelihood of cancer

Professor David Shuker, head of the Open University team, said: "These combined discoveries have allowed us to link red meat consumption to an increased risk of bowel cancer and may give us some clues about developing a screening test for very early changes related to the disease."

Naturopath Stands Trial For Cancer Patient's Death

Brian O'Connell, 37, would like to call himself as a naturopath, is now in deep trouble as he is about to stand trial for the death of one of his patients. O'Connell was charged with manslaughter after he unsuccessfully treated Sean Flanagan, a 19-year-old who suffered from Ewing's sarcoma, a form of cancer.

The parents have put their last hope in O'Connell, who has treated the boy with herbal medicine, nutrition and physiotherapy. He assured the parents that he would be able to save their son.

During the course of treatment O'Connell administered ultraviolet blood irradiation, in which he removed blood from Flanagan's system, passed it under ultraviolet light and injected it back into his body. O'Connell said that this would stimulate the immune system by increasing oxygen in the blood. However, Sean Flanagan was admitted to a hospital two days later with lung infection.

When he was discharged from the hospital, the UV light treatment was administered at home, which caused his oxygen saturation levels to drop. Subsequently O'Connell allegedly treated Sean Flanagan by injecting his blood with hydrogen peroxide. Flanagan's cause of death was listed as probable complications from the hydrogen peroxide treatment.

The case highlights the dangers of unproven alternative therapies, which many consider to be a safer alternative to scientifically proven modern medicine.

Do You Read All Of Our Medical Blogs?

Do you read all of the medical blogs published by medicineworld.org? Many of our bloggers are busy keeping you updated on various medical topics. Medicieworld.org is publishing a wide variety of blogs on different topics.

Breast cancer blog: Breast cancer blog is run by Janet and colleagues. Latest post from this breast cancer blog reads as follows: Passive Smoking, Breast Cancer Link - We have discussed the link between passive smoking and risk of breast cancer in this blog earlier. Now there is legal backing for this argument.......

Lung cancer blog: Lung cancer blog is run by Scott and colleagues. Latest post from this lung cancer blog reads as follows: Why Blacks Are More Prone To Lung Cancer? - Given the same amount of exposure to cigarette smoke, the risk of developing lung cancer is much more in blacks compared to the white population. Recent data suggest that this difference in vulnerability for development of lung cancer may be in the genes rather than in the environment.......

Colon cancer blog: Colon cancer blog is run by Sue and colleagues. Latest post from this cancer blog post reads as follows: Fish Oil Good For Heart, But No Help For Cancer - It was widely believed by the scientists and researchers that fish oil may help to prevent some forms of cancer. Fish oil has a known protective effect against heart disease and now it looks like we have to be satisfied with just the heart protective effects of fish oil. This new information on lack of cancer protection of fish oil was released in a review of studies involving more than 700,000 patients...............

Prostate cancer blog: Prostate cancer blog is run by Mark and colleagues. Latest post from this prostate cancer blog reads as follows: Fish Oil Good For Heart, But No Help For Cancer - It was widely believed by the scientists and researchers that fish oil may help to prevent some forms of cancer. Fish oil has a known protective effect against heart disease and now it looks like we have to be satisfied with just the heart protective effects of fish oil. This new information on lack of cancer protection of fish oil was released in a review of studies involving more than 700,000 patients...............

We have a diabetes watch blog as well and this is run by JoAnn and colleagues. The latest post from this diabetes watch blog reads as follows: Teach Your Children Good Eating Habits Early - About 21 million Americans are suffering from diabetes and in addition there are 45 million prediabetics in America. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that one out of every three children born in the United States will develop this fatal malady during the course of their life.......

Heart watch blog: Heart watch blog is run by Daniel and colleagues. The latest post from this heart watch blog reads as follows: No Value In Adding Amino Acids After A Heart Attack - Some physicians believed that adding nutritional supplement with amino acids following a heart attack may improve the chances of surviving a heart attack or decreasing the complications related to a heart attack.......

Cancer blog: I manage the cancer blog with lots of help and support form other bloggers. The latest post from this cancer blog reads as follows: Passive Smoking, Breast Cancer Link - We have discussed the link between passive smoking and risk of breast cancer in this blog earlier. Now there is legal backing for this argument...............

Fish Oil Good For Heart, But No Help For Cancer

It was widely believed by the scientists and researchers that fish oil may help to prevent some forms of cancer. Fish oil has a known protective effect against heart disease and now it looks like we have to be satisfied with just the heart protective effects of fish oil. This new information on lack of cancer protection of fish oil was released in a review of studies involving more than 700,000 patients.

Researchers combed through the data from 38 different studies that tracked patients for up to 30 years, and came to the conclusion that omega-3 fatty acids that are present in the fish oil has no cancer protective effect. Dr. Catherine MacLean, the lead author and a researcher at the Rand Corp. and Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Healthcare System say that although a few studies found some risk reduction for cancers of the breast, prostate and lung, those studies were relatively small and not definitive.

I Don't think this is going to be the last word on this issue. It has been shown over and over again that plays a key role in causation and prevention of cancer.

These researchers review includes studies that evaluated the effects of fish oil, in both pill form and as food on 11 kinds of cancer, mostly tumors of the breast, colon, lung or prostate. This new study appear in the latest issue of Journal of the American Medical Association

These 38 studies they have evaluated are very different among themselves involving different population groups and different levels of fish oil consumption. This limits the value of this analysis and precludes from making any definite conclusions.

Safety First: Fire Department And Colon Cancer

What is the connection between fire department and colon cancer? Interesting question, right? I had no clue until I read this article published by the Green bay Fire department.

Hey say that "While most fires are in fact preventable, it is also a true that many cancers are as well. It is for this reason that this column is devoted to the screening for colorectal cancer and the procedure known as a colonoscopy."

The author of the article go on to say that cancer screening is the biggest reason for the declining of colon cancer incidence. The article continues "For most people older than 50 -- that includes this writer -- it is recommended that a colonoscopy be done and, depending on the results, follow-up testing continue every 5-10 years. This is because nine out of 10 people with colorectal cancer are older than 50."

The author of the article, Larry Wilson, of the Green Bay Fire department the explains his own personal experience with colon cancer screening. "Following the recommendation of my doctor and the fact that several friends and co-workers had already had the procedure done, I reluctantly made the appointment and as the time got nearer began to realize the implications -- that is, that I really could have cancer."

I found this article interesting, and if you wish you can read the full article here.

Colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer is a malignant tumor that arises from the inner wall of the large intestine or rectum. Colorectal cancer is the third commonest cancer diagnosed in the United States. Each year over 100,000 people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer in the United States. Most, of these cancers develop from growths in the colon called polyps. Removal of these polyps can prevent colon cancer.